Review: Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Porter (Scotland)

With a name like Old Engine Oil, this porter doesn't have an appetizing name to most people. However, when looking at porters or stouts, quite often they are very black and look like oil.. but thankfully don't have the consistency of oil.. phew!

I've been meaning to try Harviestoun's Old Engine Oil Porter for over a year now, sice I was still working on my 52 Week Beer project on Flickr. Why did it take so long? I had too many other beers to taste!

Appearance: Pours slightly darker than the usual porter, stout. It's like BLACK. Really BLACK. The hue is kind of that Coca Cola caramel brown colour, but just barely hue-like. Nice amount of head - a rich light brown (caramel) colour.

Aroma: Reminiscent of some of my favourite stouts on the market, including St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. Has a very rich roasted aroma that's reminiscent of coffee. Sweet malts, not complex.

Taste: Rich roasty maltiness. Dark, a bit of creaminess, quite a rich dark porter. The bittersweetness really does hit the middle of the tongue, reminiscent of dark chocolate.

Overall Thoughts: Pretty straightforward, your usual roasty porter, very decent, but there's too many porters/stouts that taste nearly identical to this on the market today. This has a price tag of $4.00 for a 330mL bottle before tax, so it's not something I would go out of my way, compared to Black Boss Stout which is $3.30 for a 500mL bottle. It has an ABV of 6%, rich tasting, a bit bittersweet aftertaste, coffee, dark chocolate, very decent!

Harviestoun recommends you to serve this with strong, hard cheese, slow-cooked lamb or black pudding.